Improvement in apparatus for washing ores and minerals



` part of this specification, in which--` gaat ditta anttrd with EDWIN [P LAT'r, for caningusten, scorn cAnoLINA.

Lettersratent 1ra-107,957, dated matera, 1870.

` nuPRovEMisrrr iNnPPA'RATus FoR-wAsHiNe ones AND MINERALS.

` The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it mayfcoucem: i Beit known thatI, EpwLN PLATT, of Charleston, 1n the district of Charleston and State of South Carolina, have invented a new and improved Ore-Washer; andI do hereby declare the following to be affull, `clear, and exactdescription of the-Isame,"` reference being `had to the accompanying drawing making a -Figure 1 isa sectional elevation; l

Figure 2 is a transverse section in the lineart,

-ig.1;,and i i Figure` 3 is-a trans-verse' section" in'rthe line y y,

` This invention `relates to 'an apparatus Vin which ore, thrown iutol a receiver, falls thence into an inclined pipe, where it is caught by jets of water forced p into the pipetthrough nozzles, by a-powerful steam-` purnp`,by'which jets th`e"ore is carried upwardinto a chamber having an `inclined bottom, there being in` said chamber a perforated barrieragainst which the current of4 ore and waterl is dashed, and beneath which `it passes, a portion of the water, with some'vof thedirt, also rushing through the perforations of the barrier, and the wholemass flowing onward to an inclined trough, whose upper end opens into the lower corner of the chamber, which trough the ore .and water enter, and` from which the water escapes 'through perforations in ,its bottom, whlethe ore falls to its lower end, and is removed, if cleansed; "if not,` it isse'nt into the same or another receiver, for the purpose of undergoing agsecond Washing process, similar` to thetirst. i i

` `In th'e drawing-7, i Y

, a i's the funnel-shaped receiver, into which the ore, i afterbeing sufficiently broken up, is thrown, and from i which the ore falls into the inclined pipe b, in the side of whichthe receiverislset.`

` c are the (nozzles, placed in a diaphragm that is set across thepipe.b,\near its lower end, through which nozzlesthe steam-pump. forces water in jets,

with sufcientforce `tofcarry the broken ore upward with them, through the pipe 1f into the chami ber d.

'Ihe chamber' d is supported at au elevation suii cient ,for the purpose .infa frame-work, A, and is placed in an inclined position, so that, when the cur' roof, and from the samethere projectsdownward,

about midway of the chamber, an inclined `perforated barrier, e, betweenwhose lower end and the floor of the chamber there is left a sufficient space for the ore to pass under the barrier.

On striking Vthe barrier, the ore is arrested mo` mentarily, and falls to the floor, with part of the accompanying'water, while' the rest of the wateriflies through the intersticesof the barrier e, carrying with it a portion of the dirt washed from the ore.

The ore and water ow down the inclined floor until they come to the open upper end of the inclined trough f, at the lower corner of -the chamber al, which trough they enter, and through which they fall, the water on its way down escapingtrornV theL the trough through interstices in its bottom;

Parallel with, andV above the trough jfzis` a trunk,` It, which receives a rsupply of water from the steannl` npump, through a pipe, t', and which dischargesfit's ,p l, t, contents into the trough f, through apertures,lappen-f` ing into'the latter from the trunk, belowwhich-aper-W tures inclined lips l, attached to the top of the trough, l

deflect the water so as to cause it to strikethegorein a direction contraryto the motion ot' thelatter, anfd Y thus act most eiectually in cleansing it.

v When'the ore has arrived at the lower endf f l trough f, it is met `andvstoppe'd by a verticaltgate, di,

placed across the trough.

Alsection, m, of the trough, at 4its lbwerendis ,i constructed as a gate, and arranged so as toyslidef` upward within thetrough when occasioncalls. t

, On sliding the gate m upward a little `way, aipox" tion of the ore'will fall throughv it, andf `this `serves as a sample to show whether the whole mass is sufficiently cleansed to warrant its removal; If it is, the gate m is drawn whollygwithiu the trough, and the ore removed throughth'e aperture thus'exposed. If not, the gate m is closed andthe vertical' gate l is drawn upward, so as to alloy;f the ore to pass through a pipe, n, connecting the trough f withthe receiver a, or through .a similar pipe connecting the trough with a second washing apparatus.

v The' oor of the chamber lmay be reticulated, if preferred, so as .to allow water to escape therefrom directly.

The pipe b is provided with a sliding gate, o, just `above the nozzles, which may be opened for the purpose of removing clogged orc, or relieving the pipe from a surplus ofwater.

Having thus described myinvention,

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The process of cleansing ore by subjecting it to the action of jets of water, which carry it upward through an inclined pipe into a chamber having a slanting bottom, an`d` thence downward through a trough provided with a perforated bottom, through which water may escape, in which trough the ore passes .through a second washing operation, substantially as described. l

2. The inclined pipe b, provided with the nozzles` c the inclined chamber d, provided with the perfo- The above specification 0f my invention signed by rated barrier e; the inclined trough f, provided with me this 7th dayof September, A. D. 1870. a, perforated bottom and the lips l,- zmd the trunk h', EDWIN PLATT.

opening, by apertures k, into the trough, when all. l these parts are arranged with relation to each other, Witnesses: :is described. R. S. CATHCART, 3. The arrangement of the trunk 11 kapertures k, J. R. MGTTE. lips l, and trough f, as set forth. K 

